Posted by Michael Wonder on 08 Dec 2016
New Medicare data show steep increases in drug prices
8 December 2016 - The CMS on Wednesday released data on the price history of 5,000 prescription drugs over five years, shedding light on the fastest rising source of healthcare costs in recent years.
“The reason it's important is not to use it as a cudgel, but to get away from the world of anecdotes” surrounding drug price hikes, Andy Slavitt said Wednesday during Modern Healthcare's 2016 Leadership Summit in Chicago.
The drug with the biggest rise in cost per unit in Medicare Part D from 2014 to 2015 was Losartan potassium, a generic version of antihypertensive drug Cozaar, which rose 491% in price to the weighted average cost per unit of $3.22 in 2015 from $1.55 in 2014.
